Fire

The AEMET warns of extreme temperatures in the midst of the fire crisis

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This summer we are going to have few respites as far as temperatures are concerned, and after the ‘rest’ we experienced this weekend, we already have the fourth heat wave of this summer upon us. And it is that, after propping it up in the last few hours On the part of the meteorological models, the AEMET has finally activated a special warning indicating that we will have a considerable increase in temperatures at least until Sunday. When does it start? The special notice issued by the AEMET marks Wednesday, July 29 as the official starting point for this new episode. Although the anticyclonic situation has already begun to raise thermometers, it will be on Wednesday when temperatures take an extraordinary leap, especially in the eastern third of the Peninsula. It will not be something specific, but the official forecast indicates that the extreme heat will stay with us at least until Sunday, August 2, although there are already voices that suggest that high temperatures will continue for a good part of next week. The oven map. On the same Wednesday, the mercury will reach 39-41 ºC in the main valleys of the southwest, such as the Guadalquivir, Guadiana and Tagus. But it will also break the barrier of 40-42 ºC in the Ebro valley and the depressions of the northeast. In the Canary Islands, the decrease in the humid layer will leave temperatures above 37 ºC and a strong presence of haze. On Thursday there will be a slight thermal respite on the Cantabrian coast, but the suffocating heat will remain unchanged in the center, south and east, repeating extreme maximums, which will last until Friday with temperatures that will continue to hover around 40-42 ºC. At the end of the week. Although the models show some uncertainty for so many days ahead, a significant drop in temperatures is not expected to allow the warnings to be reduced, and maximum temperatures will continue to remain stuck above 40 ºC. At the worst moment. Extreme temperatures pose a serious danger to public health, and the AEMET itself has warned of a “significant” risk in the middle of the day. But in addition to the medical field, we must not forget the many fires that we are facing in our country. Extinction efforts, which are currently focused on large fires in areas of Ávila, Madrid, Toledo and Castellón, are facing dramatic conditions. The heat wave brings with it very low generalized humidity and locally gusty southern winds and this scenario, which in climatology is known as the 30-30-30 factor (more than 30 degrees, winds of more than 30 km/h and less than 30% humidity), will once again trigger the fire risk index to extreme levels in practically the entire national territory. In Xataka | ENT doctors agree: “Sleeping with air conditioning forces the nose to work excessively”

The fire in Madrid forces the evacuation of an essential facility for NASA

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The advance of the fire through the southwest of Madrid has placed the focus on Robledo de Chavela, one of the municipalities affected by the emergency. There is also a communications complex that is part of the NASA Deep Space Networkused to maintain contact with missions located at enormous distances from Earth. The teams work to protect facilities whose importance is not always evident from the outside. What happens there affects a space infrastructure of international scope. The clearest warning came from the Government delegate in Madrid, Francisco Martín, which ensured that the installation “she is in a critical situation” and that the troops were doing “the impossible to protect her.” The fire was also going through its “peak moment”, with the head of the fire beyond the capacity to extinguish, according to the Community of Madrid. The approximately 90 workers at the complex have been evacuated and there is no longer any personnel inside the facility, so it is not yet possible to confirm whether the flames have penetrated the facilities or caused damage. Xataka has contacted the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, JPL, and the Ministry of the Interior. From the center they have told us that They are coordinating with NASA headquarters and that they hope to have information soon. Interior had not responded at the time of writing this article. One of NASA’s three doors to deep space The threatened facility is the Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex, known by its English acronym, MDSCC. Located in Robledo de Chavela, it belongs to the National Institute of Aerospace Technology and operates in collaboration with NASA. The facility has six large satellite dishesamong them one 70 meters in diameter and several 34 meters. They are all part of the Deep Space Networkthe international infrastructure used by the US agency to maintain communications with ships exploring the Solar System. Madrid is one of the three pieces that support the global coverage of this network. The others are located in Goldstone, California, and Canberra, Australia, strategically placed so that the Earth’s rotation does not interrupt contact with the ships for too long. When a mission disappears below the horizon of Robledo de Chavela, it may enter the field of vision of one of the other two centers. This relay makes it possible to maintain practically continuous communications and distribute the tasks of monitoring, transmitting orders and receiving scientific data. The scale of that activity is measured across the Deep Space Network, not by independent facilities. According to NASA, lto network serves more than 40 missions and a specialized team distributes the antenna time between the three complexes according to the visibility of each ship and the objectives of tracking, science and data return. These missions do not constitute, therefore, an exclusive portfolio of the Madrid station. The agency itself describes these antennas as an “indispensable link” with vehicles that venture beyond Earth. A recent example allows us to better measure this role. On June 23, New Horizons controllers confirmed that the ship had woken up normally after 321 days of hibernation. At that time it was about 9.5 billion kilometers from Earth, so the signal took approximately 8 hours and 52 minutes to arrive. Confirmation reached the mission operations center in Maryland through the Deep Space Network station located near Madrid. For now there is no official confirmation of damage, but it is not possible to rule it out either. Those responsible for the complex will not be able to check the status of the buildings, equipment and antennas until they can return to the premises. NASA has DSN Nowa tool that normally allows you to check which network antennas are active and which ships they communicate with. The page is currently out of service for updating work, a circumstance that does not allow conclusions to be drawn about the operational status of the Madrid station. Images | POT In Xataka | If you live in Madrid and want to see the total eclipse on August 12, write down these 52 towns

Spain has more and more forests and fewer resources to prevent fires. Their solution: fire donkeys

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Over the last decades, the fight against fires has been reinforced thanks to the use of drones, satellites and AI camerasbut in some regions of Spain they are proving that there is a simpler and more effective tool: “firefighter donkeys”. As the fire becomes a major problem, devastating hectares of forest and populated areasmore and more areas of the country see herds of horses as a valuable ally against llamas. Nothing our ancestors didn’t know. Fire donkeys? As is. It is not about using chicks to carry water drums, shovels or hoses, but rather taking advantage of the skills of these animals to keep the forests cared for, clear the undergrowth and, in this way, prevent forest fires from advancing uncontrollably. Its role is so important that there are those who already use that expression directly: “firefighter donkeys”a graphic and powerful way to claim its function. What exactly do they do? Pasture. Give free rein to your voracious and insatiable appetite. It may not seem like a big deal, but when we talk about groups of dozens and dozens of donkeys that advance in packs along hectares of forest, feeding on grasses and bushes, their effect is crucial. Their ‘crews’ help keep the fields clean, which, in the event of a fire, makes it difficult for the flames to find fuel to feed them and help them spread. As they advance, the donkeys create firebreaks in areas that are not always easy to access with machinery. What’s more, they do it so well that they are already being used to maintain firewalls. And where are they used? One of the clearest examples is found in Catalonia. Over there six years ago Joan Cedó Sans laid the foundations for what it is today Tivissa Donkey Firefightersa non-profit organization that pursues a double objective: to give abused or abandoned horses a chance and, at the same time, take advantage of their voracious appetite to keep the mountains cleared. A textbook “win-win” that guarantees the animals a peaceful existence, care and good nutrition and, in the process, prevents you from mounting them (every time most affected due to depopulation) become flammable traps. How did it start? The Catalan initiative started in 2020 with a bunch of donkeysalready had 28 animals in 2022 and is now around 60 individuals, a large herd that moves through the mountains of the region cleaning public and private lands. The headquarters of the organization is in Tivissa, Tarragona. “The 2013 Tivissa fire happened very close to where I have the horses and I thought the animals could help clear the undergrowth and prevent fires,” explained Joan Cedó a few years ago Diary of Tarragonawhere he remembered how the project began with only three horses from a Swiss couple who wanted to return to their country and did not know what to do with the animals. Does it only apply in Catalonia? No. In fact, Donkey Firefighters It was not even the first initiative of that type in Spain. Years before they had started doing something similar in Andalusia, where since 2014 a group of horses from the association The Happy Burrito is dedicated to carrying out a similar work in the surroundings of the Doñana National Park: they graze, devouring dry brush, grass, weeds… elements that at first glance may seem harmless but that, in the event of a forest fire breaking out, represent food for the flames. In Galicia either The Basque Country It is also possible to find similar initiatives. It’s not surprising at all. More and more organizations are demanding the role of herding and the cattle to keep areas that have been affected by depopulation clean. In 2022 Barcelona itself activated an experiment with more than 200 sheep, goats and lambs to keep the Collserola undergrowth at bay and reduce the risk of fires. Nothing they haven’t already tried in Portugal. Why donkeys? That’s the million dollar question. Beyond the value of giving abused or abandoned chicks a second chance, why turn to these animals and not other smaller ones, such as sheep or goats? Cedó makes it clear on CNN: “The work that donkeys do, neither goats nor sheep can do.” Not only do they weigh more than sheep, which allows them to crush and compact the dry grass in their path, equids are also characterized by their insatiable appetite. They move slowly, but constantly and they do not dislike the dry grass that becomes so dangerous with fires. Images | Julio Romero (Flickr) and Gabriel Fdez (Flickr) In Xataka | The mere existence of donkeys has been a mystery of natural history for decades. One we have solved

The fire in Los Gallardos reminds us of the car trap. Surrounded by 800 degree flames, it is not a shelter but an oven

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The unprecedented tragedy of Los Gallardos and the district of Bédar (Almería), which has left at least eleven fatalitieshas broken all the schemes in Andalusia. It is the deadliest fire of the 21st century in Spain, leaving us with a devastating image of people who have lost their lives inside their own vehicles or a few meters from them when trying to flee down the wrong path. The UME has mobilized 150 troops and, as the hours pass, the tragedy reveals an even more bitter face: the first hypotheses suggest that the deceased could be foreign tourists. People who, in panic and not knowing the labyrinthine relief of the area, tried to escape via alternative routes, losing their orientation until they were cornered. The collapse of the system. To understand why this hell has broken out, we have to analyze this perfect storm. On July 9, 2026, the Andalusian emergency system encountered an unfathomable scenario for three fundamental reasons. Extreme simultaneity: while the flames devoured the east of Almería, at the other end of the community, in Benahavís (Málaga), an urban-forest fire forced the emergency evacuation of some 1,000 people, and with the AP-7 cut off. Having two sources of very high life risk at the same time requires dividing the air and land resources of the INFOCA Plan and the UME. Flash ignition: the origin in Los Gallardos was the fall of a power line near the N-340. The spark fell on a forest mass stressed by the very high temperatures and lack of humidity. The wind did the rest. Treacherous topography: Bédar is an area of ​​irregular relief, full of ravines, boulevards and scattered farmhouses. The fire advanced, devouring the slopes faster than a car could travel on a dirt road. The main road was blocked by smoke, forcing desperate evacuations towards Lubrín. The vision of firefighters: as extinction professionals, there are a warning that professionals have been warning for years, although we ignore when panic takes control: the car is the worst place to take refuge from a forest fire. And based on the European Automobile Commissioner (CEA)road safety specialists warn that you should never try to cross a flame front. The vast majority of fatalities in forest fires occur due to trying to save property, delaying escape or delaying evacuation. For example, Australia maintained a Stay and Defend or Leave Early policy until the devastating Black Saturday fires in 2009, which left 173 dead. It was then that the National Center for Biotechnology Information (PMC) analyzed the causes and determined new action protocols. A Molina-Terrén study of 2019 detailed that when civilians are harmed or killed, it occurs almost exclusively during evacuations that are carried out too late, when smoke already impedes visibility and radiant heat blocks escape routes, or when trying to protect agricultural assets and homes. A recent study reaffirmed this thesis. The oxygen factor. As pointed out by the services of Red Crossan engine needs oxygen to run. When the fire consumes all the oxygen in the environment, the car simply suffocates and stops. According to the firm ISK Fire Survivalwhich designs fireproof protection systems for fire trucks themselves, details how radiant heat is lethal for a standard vehicle without thermal armor: windshields can burst at temperatures above 300 ° C, leaving the passenger compartment exposed. A sixth generation fire consumes all available oxygen and expels carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen cyanide. With melted wheels, traction is lost and thick smoke reduces visibility to zero in seconds. And, since the car’s ventilation system is not airtight, it is the toxicity of the air that begins to affect the body. And when the fire corners or the car is already partially trapped, the next few seconds are critical. The order of how to act from then on is capital. Expert advice indicates: Find a clearing and park. Here the important thing is to look for the area with the least possible vegetation, stopping far from trees or dense bushes. If you can park behind a stone wall (from some old construction) or in a dirt clearing, a large open field or a plowed field, the better. Turn off the engine and block the air. That is, close the windows, turn off the air conditioning and activate air recirculation to delay the entry of toxic smoke into the passenger compartment as much as possible. It is also important to flash and turn on emergency lights to be visible. Cover yourself with natural materialsnever with plastics or synthetic fibers. A wool blanket or cotton jacket does not melt or melt as easily, so it will not cause such serious injuries. get on the ground. Literally, lying below the level of the windows, crouched under the seats, protects from the direct radiation that enters through the windows and the smoke that accumulates at the top. Don’t go out. The passage of the flame front lasts between 2 and 5 minutes. The interior of the car can withstand more than a body exposed to the elements, which means that it should only be abandoned if the fire has entered inside. Then the car becomes a trap. Images | EMA Infoca In Xataka | We thought that the worst had already happened in France, but it seems that its problems have only just begun: after the “infernal” heat comes the fire

Valencia has found a way to prevent fires like someone watering a garden: huge fire cannons

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Like someone watering a garden. 10,000 liters per minute at 42 meters away. The Valencian Community has a unique weapon to fight fire: fire cannons that are activated as soon as the environmental sensors detect the slightest outbreak of fire. And these sentinels are armored to entire neighborhoods. In the Devesa The Salerin Valencia city and under red notice due to high temperatures, eight fixed towers have been set up on Gola del Pujol avenue and a set of portable cannons that move through the natural park. The municipal forecast is to reach about 40 towers in 2031. The system began in the Colonia Santa Marina urbanization (Carcaixent), where the Forest Fire Defense System (SIDEINFO) already installed similar cannons in 2006 for collective defense against a neighborhood surrounded by mountains. Entrusted to Neptune. Guardian is the name of this project and it has no other purpose than to serve water cannons to create “green barriers” around key developments. The objective now is to expand in areas such as Masia de Traver, Els Pous, La Canyada (north and south) and Valencia La Vella. In Torrent, for example, the Vedat has been protected for more than a decade by 24 cannons distributed throughout the “green lung” of the city, covering more than 50 hectares of forest. They are activated automatically or manually when the risk increases, and the city council itself is considering bringing this same methodology to Serra Perenxisa using hydrants and pipes on forest trails. and it works. Already prevented a fire from spreading in the Túria Natural Park, dumping more than 218,000 liters of water in just over half an hour. Companies such as Hidraqua, Cetaqua, Medi XXI, along with the universities of Valencia are involved in this enormous project. In fact, Medi XXI also sells domestic and portable versions of these cannons for isolated homes and small urbanizations. While other communities face the same wave of fires with extreme confinement, as is the case of the entire population of Albeldain Castillonroy, resorting to the essential ES-Alert warnings and massive deployments of brigades and UME, Valencia has found another less reactive model. What is a fire cannon. It all starts with the SIDEINFO tower system. They are water monitors that measure between 12 and 16 meters high, shoot water about 42 meters away and mobilize almost double the discharge of a Canadair-type amphibious plane (about 6,000 liters at a time). They are fixed cannons, connected to tanks of about 500 m³ and pumping houses, integrated into a home automation network with sensors and weather stations that allow simulating the evolution of a fire and activating the irrigation/reinforcement system when the risk index demands it. In addition to moving large flows of water, they can also project foam with a range greater than 30-40 meters and can vary between manual, motorized or remote control. A difference between communities. The Valencian Community has become a testing laboratory. And the case of El Saler is quite unique: the city has been investing since 2023 in a system patented by the consulting firm Medi XXI GSA. The nucleus resides at that point where the CV-500 highway and the urban center intersect the forest. The engineer Ferran Dalmau argument that this system only makes sense at very specific points of the urban-forest interface, where opening large firebreaks would be unfeasible. Such an evacuation would cause a huge landscape impact, because it would leave a mountain with a giant bald patch. Although not everyone thinks the same: WWF Remember that these sprinkler systems are anecdotal for now and they are not clear that they work against high intensity fires. Once again, early detection, cleaning of perimeter vegetation and neighborhood self-protection plans are essential preventive guidelines. Protect yourself against maximum risk. In Valencia, where wind conditions can fan any spark, sometimes a fire overcomes the barriers of surveillance, forest management, mobile firefighting devices and, in short, the Special Plan against the Risk of Forest Fires (PEIF) itself. These cannons are, de facto, a reinforcement system. During the last few weeks, tracks and roads have been closed to traffic, the device has been reinforced with a forest nursery, El Saler Fire Station, Local Police and Civil Protection volunteers. This year, the deployment has mobilized 4,401 troops and 20 air resources throughout the Community, with 2,313 professionals in the province of Valencia, 56 forest firefighting units and 65 observatoriesten of them with 24-hour surveillance. Only in El Saler has a reinforcement of five firefighters and two extra patrol teams been activated. The Stop al Foc device of the Valencian Community brings together almost 1,700 professionals – 724 in the province of València, 470 in Castellón and 434 in Alicante – for a stage that, statistically, 68% is attributed to human activity (38% intentional, 30% due to negligence). The Albelda case. Some are saved and others burn? The difference with Huesca is clear: fewer water options, more unpopulated areas of territory and environmental conditions more conducive to fire. The declared fire at 18:15 In agricultural and forestry land, it devastated 100 hectares in a few hours and forced the Government of Aragon to raise the PROCINFO plan to operational situation 2. They cut off the N-230 and A-140 roads and the Military Emergency Unit (UME) is already there. It is already controlled, luckily, but the entire Tamarite de Litera area is at risk and the figures point to more than 400 hectares burned. All precautions are insufficient: the 2026 fire map is presented as the one with the highest incidence of forest fires in the EU. The Copernicus and FIRMS records speak of some 56,000 hectares burned, which represents almost 40% of the burned surface in the entire Union. The data from the Ministry for the Ecological Transition is somewhat lower (39,700 ha until June 21, you can consult here updated data), but they agree that June has been the most destructive month. Doubling the numbers. What’s more, 19 fires have been recorded from July 2 alone until … Read more

after the “infernal” heat comes the fire

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On the night of July 7 to 8, a 22-year-old volunteer firefighter died when a rock fell while trying to put out a forest fire in the commune of Planay, in the Tour du Merle massif. “Everything must burn”, said Ignacio Villaverdeinactive forest firefighter. And he is right, however, until very recently that point in the French Alps did not appear on fire danger maps. It is true that France is not yet experiencing its worst year of fires, but the flames have already devastated almost three times as much as in 2025 at this time of the year and we are at the beginning of July. With another heat wave knocking on the doors. What is happening? To put things in context, the modern record for fires in France occurred in 2022. It was about 66,000 hectares. Now the counter is at about 14,500 hectares. However, it wouldn’t be fair to compare a full season with a nascent one. Above all, because this year France (and thanks to the three heat waves that are almost in a chain) has started to burn much earlier than normal. As explained the Prime Minister, Sébastien Lecornu, That they are not in record global numbers does not mean that there are precedents for what they are experiencing. France is learning what heat is. We already know that on July 7, the 41.5 °C in Dordogne and Aude; that on the 8th, 67 departments were on orange alert and that Météo-France placed 47 at high fire risk. The French also know this (and better than anyone). What they don’t know and are starting to learn is that “a few days of heat wave” is not the same as a hot summer. In the second case, things change and what was not dangerous before becomes a bomb box. What was foliage last year is fuel today. And in fact, it affects us all.. Because, although it is easy to draw a parallel between what is happening here and what is happening in France, the truth is that the fires are already affecting us: the closure of the A9 hitchhiker, the evacuated campsites in Catalonia and Castellón and until the Tour de France (which banned the public in its third stage) They are clear signs of a problem that is affecting us in real time. The future that knocks at the door. Unexpectedly, France has become the great laboratory of how climate change can make life impossible for Europe with hardly any effort and in a very short time. It’s not just the blinds, chalk or yogurt: France is exposed to a good number of problems for which it is not prepared. The heat, they say, will last until the middle of the month, with a possible peak around the 14th of this month. So everything points to a long season. And the problems in France have only just begun. Image | Guillaume Jauseau In Xataka | “There they also reach 40 degrees and the trains are not cancelled”: Germany and France need to imitate Spain to survive the heat

There’s a reason China doesn’t fire nuclear missiles from its most dangerous submarine. You just broke that rule

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The greatest strength of a nuclear submarine is not its firepower, but that no one knows where it is. This ability to remain hidden for months has made these ships the most important pillar of nuclear deterrence since the Cold War and explains why each movement related to them is analyzed with a magnifying glass. It wasn’t just any test. China has insisted that the launch was part of its annual training and that it had previously notified the countries of the region. However, few maneuvers generate as much attention as the ballistic missile shot from a strategic nuclear submarine into the Pacific Ocean. Not only that, since it was an action practically unpublished in decades. Beijing had been avoiding a public demonstration of this type for years and, precisely for this reason, the test has been interpreted as a message directed far beyond the military exercise itself. The letter that is never shown. Missile submarines are the most discreet and valuable component of any nuclear power. Its main advantage is in remaining hidden for weeks or months, guaranteeing a retaliatory capacity even if the country suffers a first attack. This need to maintain secrecy explains why China has barely made public launches from this type of platform and that each demonstration has enormous strategic weight. The signal was directed to the United States. Although the Chinese authorities they emphasized that the missile carried a training warhead and was not directed against any country, the context tell another story. Western analysts believe that the test was intended to demonstrate that Chinese submarines can now launch very long-range missiles. from nearby areas on its own coasts and continue hitting targets thousands of kilometers away. In other words, Beijing wanted to remind that its maritime deterrence capacity is entering a new phase of maturity. Type 094 Submarine A doctrine designed to reduce risks. Everything indicates that the launch took place from protected waters close to China, a strategy known as “bastion.” Instead of sending its submarines to the center of the Pacific, the idea is to keep them under the cover of national aviation, fleet and anti-missile systems while retaining the ability to attack very distant targets. If the new JL-2 or JL-3 missiles They fulfill the benefits attributed to them by analysts, these submarines no longer need to travel too far from home to reach US territory. Nuclear expansion continues. Because the test comes in full modernization process of Chinese strategic forces. Beijing is building new silos for intercontinental missiles, deploying more advanced generations of land-based missiles and increasing the number of ballistically capable nuclear submarines. Pentagon estimates suggest that the Chinese arsenal could exceed a thousand nuclear warheads before 2030a transformation that is changing the military balance in the Indo-Pacific. The Pacific responds worried. Australia, Japan, New Zealand and Taiwan reacted criticizing a pitch which they consider destabilizing for the region, despite having received prior notification. The criticism was not directed solely at the missile, but in the context of a rapid increase in Chinese military capabilities and an increasingly visible naval presence in the Pacific. For many governments, the test represents a new step in a show of force strategy that had already included tests of intercontinental missiles and naval maneuvers increasingly distant from Chinese coasts. The real novelty was not the missile. It is known that China has had ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons for years. What is really new is that he has decided show publicly how one of its strategic submarines can use them, something it had almost completely avoided until now. In fact, the demonstration increases the credibility of your ability of retaliation, forces its rivals to assume that these submarines are fully operational and confirms that Beijing is willing to use its military tests as another tool of political and strategic deterrence. Image | PLA In Xataka | Satellite images leave no doubt: China has launched an underwater creature into the sea that defies naval engineering In Xataka | From cultivating the field to sailing underwater: the Chinese farmer who makes homemade submarines in his free time

Echo, Fire TV stick, Kindle and more on sale before Prime Day

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Prime Day 2026 is just around the corner, and as usual Amazon has launched a small preview with offers on its own devices. There is plenty to choose from, so we are going to review the best deals on Kindle, Fire TV Stick, Echo and more. Fire TV Stick HD by 21.99 eurosa very economical dongle to turn almost any TV into a smart one. Echo Dot by 29.99 eurosa smart speaker that serves as a base for home automation. Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition (pack) by 256.97 eurosa pack that includes both the eReader and a case and a charging base. Ring Indoor Camera Plus by 29.99 eurosan indoor surveillance camera. Echo Show 11 by 154.99 eurosa smart speaker that integrates an 11-inch screen. Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition (pack) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Fire TV Stick HD Amazon has decided to lower the price of the Fire TV Stick and the cheapest model is once again the Fire TV Stick HDwhich for 21.99 euros (previously 44.99 euros) is ideal for those who want to convert a “dumb” TV into a smart one. Obviously, its resolution is Full HD, so if you have a 4K TV, the best option is the Fire TV Stick 4K Selectwhich is also on sale for a similar price of 23.99 euros (before 54.99 euros). The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Echo Dot We can also find on offer the Echo Dotthe model that has a spherical design. Its price has dropped to 29.99 euros (previously 64.99 euros), making it the best smart speaker to have as a base for home automation. It has the Alexa assistant and is also compatible with Alexa+. You can use it as a Bluetooth speaker for your mobile and even consoles like Nintendo Switch. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition (pack) With Kindle things are very different. There are no offers on Amazon eReaders, except for one exception: the Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition has dropped in price in a pack that includes a case (there are several colors to choose from) along with a wireless charging base. All this for 256.97 euros (before 341.08 euros). Models on their own, without add-ons, there is no offer, so This pack is cheaper than if you buy the same reader right now without anything else. Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition (pack) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Ring Indoor Camera Plus Of course, Ring devices cannot be missing. There is a lot to choose from, but we find the price of the Ring Indoor Camera Pluswhich remains for 29.99 euros (before 59.99 euros). It is an indoor security camera that offers 2K resolution, is compatible with Alexa and has two-way communication. Ring Indoor Camera Plus The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Echo Show 11 Lastly, the Echo Show 11 has also dropped in price, in this case to 154.99 euros (before 239.99 euros). It is a device similar to the Echo Dot because we are talking about a smart speaker, but it has the particularity of having a screen. This screen shows information that we can configure, such as the temperature, but it also allows you to play content from platforms such as Netflix or Prime Video. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | amazon In Xataka | Which Kindle to buy: buying guide with recommendations to get it right with Amazon e-book readers In Xataka | Best Amazon Fire TV. Which one to buy and recommended models to convert your TV into a smart TV depending on use

A beach in Sardinia has banned umbrellas for people between 10 and 65 years old. The reason is simple: fire

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Summer yes, summer too, dermatologists they insist on the importance of protecting ourselves from the sun’s rays with creams, caps and umbrellas. In Molentis Pointone of the beaches most popular of Sardinia, the bathers they will have to conform however with the first two tools. If they want to plant an umbrella in the sand they will have to meet a series of requirements, beyond paying the 10 euros it costs to access the cove: the parasols will only be available to families with children or people who have already turned 65 years old. The rest have to burn. What has happened? Villasimìus is a commune of Cagliari, in the Italian region of Sardinia, where slightly less than 4,000 people. Despite this, it has been making headlines for days in the media throughout Italy and the rest of Europe, including headlines within the scope of Guardian, cnn either The Telegraph. The reason is not so much the spectacular nature of its beaches and its attractiveness at the gates of summer (which too), but rather the effects of that pull: faced with the avalanche of visitors, the local authorities have decided prohibit that the majority of bathers use umbrellas on the sandy beach. No umbrellas? More or less. Which have decided in Villasimìus is that the majority of the population cannot bring their own umbrellas to Punta Molentis. This privilege is restricted to only two groups: families with children under 10 years old and adults over 65. The large group between 10 and 65 years old that remains in the middle will have to make do with protecting themselves from the sun of the Sardinian coast with caps and a good sunscreen. Not only that. In a statement Posted on its official website, the commune of Villasimìus details other measures that bathers must take into account: the number of vehicles and people that can be simultaneously in the area is limited, as is the influx of bathers arriving by boat. The rules also include time guidelines and a warning: those who go to the beach should know that there is an “environmental ticket” of 10 euros for those who travel by car. If you go by boat the fee remains at 5 euros. But… Why? The authorities insist on the need to protect the natural environment and remember the serious forest fire that the region experienced last summer, when dozens of tourists had to flee in boats. The flames spread so quickly that they burned cars stationed in the area, they blocked land escape routes and caused serious environmental damage, environmentalists warn. “The Punta Molentis ecosystem is one of the most valuable in our territory, but also one of the most fragile. The forest fires of 2025 and exceptional weather phenomena have reduced the capacity of the dunes and put habitats and biodiversity to the test,” warns the commune. “It is necessary to limit the human impact and ensure the protection of heritage for future generations.” Part of the rules disclosed by the Villasimìus authorities. What do people think? The Government argues that it wants to protect the environment and preserve the natural wealth of the beach. Neither one nor the other seems to have convinced bathers, who were quick to use irony to question the ban on umbrellas. “How wonderful, a beautiful day at the beach and 20 hours in the emergency room for burns. I think they’ve tried this ordinance before and it went wrong,” comments sarcastically a user on networks. At stake would not only be the environmental wealth of the coast. A spokesperson for the Villasimìus town council assured this week to CNN that behind the veto of the parasols there are also security reasons: they want to reduce their number to prevent situations like those of 2025 from being repeated. “It is fundamentally because of that fire and the difficulties we had in evacuating the beach due to the large number of umbrellas installed that the city council has established this rule,” recognize from the Italian commune, who remember that in that area there are no paid ‘beach clubs’, so “people place umbrellas next to each other, blocking access, causing risks and obstructing the view of the sea.” The Telegraph precise that in the bathing area you can rent parasols. Does it only happen in Sardinia? Villasimìus’s decision has attracted attention because it is unorthodox, but the truth is that the use of umbrellas (and other beach equipment) on the sandy beaches has not only generated controversy there. In Italy the ‘beach clubs’ have generated debate after, according to Altronconsumo calculationsthe rental of sun loungers and umbrellas has skyrocketed by 24% in just five years. Beyond Italy, in Greece they have just expand your list of “virgin” sandbanks where the rental of umbrellas is prohibited. Here, in Spain, the use of furniture on the beaches (and that includes everything from parasols to tents and windbreaks) also has generated debate the last years. Images | Heather Cowper (Flickr) and Villasimius SRL In Xataka | It is increasingly common to find jellyfish on Mediterranean beaches before summer. And it’s a bad sign

We were already using fire 800,000 years earlier than we thought

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He dominion of fire isWithout a doubt, the greatest turning point in the technological and evolutionary history of our lineage. It gave us warmth, it scared away predators and, by allowing us to cook food, it triggered the development of our brains and also our own lives. Until now, the scientific consensus placed the strongest evidence of its early use at around one million years, although this is no longer the case. A new study. a new study published in PLOS ONE takes us to Wonderwerk Cave, in the northern Cape province of South Africa. This site was already “old acquaintance” for paleoanthropologists, since in 2012 a team demonstrated the existence of fire on site in layer 10 of the cave, dated to approximately one million years. And this is important because from here the consensus was created about when humans discovered fire. But the story didn’t end there. The new study has descended one more step in time, specifically to layer 11 of the same cave and there they have found burned bones with an age that ranges between 1.07 and 1.79 million years. And it is vital. The location of the remains is vital, since they were found 30 meters deep inside the cavern. This completely rules out that the fire marks are the product of a random forest fire or a lightning strike, but rather that someone had to carry those flames there after learning to control the fire. A new debate. The evidence that suggests that our past knew how to make fire is much later, since in sites such as Gesher Benot Ya’aqov In Israel, total control of technology is already shown. What this new finding raises is whether these Homo erectus early people did not know how to light a fire from scratch. What is proposed is that instead they were “thieves” of nature, since they took advantage of natural fires caused by lightning or volcanoes, collected the embers and transported them inside the cave to keep them alive as long as possible. A technique that, although it seems simple, entails great cognitive and social complexity. The technology. If the fire in layer 11 had not been confirmed until now, it is because it is incredibly difficult to distinguish a bone burned almost two million years ago from a fossilized bone that has undergone chemical alterations. And it is no wonder, since with the passage of millennia, diagenetic processes such as fluoridation or the accumulation of manganese can darken the fossils, giving them a false appearance of having been carbonized. But now we have very important tools, such as luminescence techniques combined with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, which allow us to reveal chemical secrets at the molecular level. A new paradigm. The experts who have given their opinion on this study through the Science Media Center Spain such as Joaquín Panera or researchers specialized in fire such as Aitor Burguet-Coca agree in describing the methodological protocol as “innovative”, highlighting that it opens the door to reevaluate huge collections of fossils in other sites, such as Koobi Fora in Kenya, where there are ambiguous signs of fire 1.5 million years ago. In Xataka | We had always believed that evolution had been arrested for thousands of years. The redheads were telling us the opposite

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